Small animal incubator



g 1941- vy. EI MARKS 2,252,191

SMALL ANIMAL INcuB'AToR Filed Feb. 2, 1946 INVENTOR,

BY ATT RNEX Patented Aug. 12, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SMALLANIMAL INCUBATOR Wade E. Marks, Youngstown, Ohio Application February 2,1940, Serial No. 316,951

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a small animal incubator.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a practical andefficient means for keeping small animals such as dogs and catssuificiently warm during their first several months of life.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a small animalincubator the heating means of which may be easily adjusted as to thedegree of warmth provided.

Specifically, the small animal incubator shown and described hereincomprises a rectangular frame around the interior of which have beenpositioned a plurality of small electric light bulbs. A screen orsuitable grid is positioned across the top of the rectangular frame anda pasteboard box is positioned thereon in which the small animals may beconveniently placed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete small animal incubator.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the heating frame portion of theincubator with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the heating frame portion of the smallanimal incubator.

By referring to the drawing and Figure 1 in particular it will be seenthat the small animal incubator comprises an asbestos mat l upon whichis positioned a rectangular heating frame ll formed of suitablematerial, preferably wood, and provided with a plurality of smallelectric light bulbs l2 around the interior sides thereof.

By referring to Figure 2 of the drawing it will be seen that the heatingframe II has positioned across the top thereof a suitable grid or screenI 3 which is shown broken away from. the frame in Figure 2 in order thatthe interior arrangement of the heating means may be more clearly shown.Still referring to Figure 2 it will be seen that the heating meanscomprises a plurality of electric light bulb receiving sockets l4suitably connected together by wiring I 5. The bulbs l2 are controlledby means of a conveniently located electric switch l6 and a suitableelectric extension cord I1 is connected into the circuit, as a currentsupply means.

Still referring to Figure 2 of the drawing it will be seen that thescreen or grid I3 is held in position on the heating frame by anyconvenient means such as tacking the same thereto or the use of aclamping strip imbedded in the frame itself. Positioned between thescreen l3 and the heating frame I l and suitably covering the entireinterior area of the heating frame l I there is an asbestos lining I 8which may be afiixed thereto by any suitable means. This asbestos liningH3 in connection with the asbestos pad l0 insures complete safety inusing the small animal incubator.

Again referring to Figure 1 of the drawing it will be seen that in orderto provide a convenient and. readily replaceable receptacle in which thesmall animals may be positioned, a pasteboard box [3 is positioned uponthe heating frame, the screen or grid l3 thereof serving to insure itsadequate support across its entire bottom. The small animals are placedin the pasteboard box l9 and it is obvious that this pasteboard box maybe readily discarded when necessary and replaced with a new box withoutaffecting the operation of the heating frame in any way. The box [9would preferably be of approximately the same size as the heating frameemployed although in the event that a smaller box would be preferred, apartition such as indicated by the numerals 28 in Figure 2 might bepositioned across one end of the heating frame so asto effectivelyreduce the area thereof, it being necessary to remove one of the bulbsI2 as its heat would otherwise be wasted. It is obvious that the heatsupplied in this incubator may be readily varied by the use of varyingnumbers of the bulbs or by varying the size of the bulbs. It has beendetermined that ten watt bulbs are adequate for average use and thatfour such bulbs in a heating frame of average size will maintain atemperature of approximately within the pasteboard box, which temperature is entirely adequate for the protection of the small animalsplaced therein.

What I claim is:

An incubator for small animals comprising in combination a heating framewherein a plurality of electric light bulbs generate sufficient heat anda cardboard box adapted to be positioned upon the said frame so as toreceive the said small animals, means formed across the top of the saidframe adapted to suitably support the entire bottom of the saidcardboard box, together with an asbestos lining of the said frame and aremovable partition adapted to partition off one end of the said framefrom the remainder thereof.

WADE E. MARKS.

